Airflow Connection

There was no wind on the platform in the morning, something Lin Chen had already grown used to. After finishing his breathing exercises at the eastern edge, he felt the airflow within his body moving more evenly than it had in previous days. It was no longer noticeably too fast or too slow, as though it had found a fixed rhythm. In the distance, the branches of the withered tree hung beneath the morning light. The soil around its roots was darker, as if moisture were slowly seeping upward.

Mr. Popo did not come to call for him. Lin Chen walked down the narrow path to the entrance of the stone gate on his own. The gate was still half-open as it had been yesterday, with a faint light shining through the gap. As he pushed it open and slipped inside, he sensed the air indoors moving toward him at a steady pace, as though the very act of entering the space had set the airflow circulating. He stopped in the center of the room without adjusting his position further.

This time, he could more clearly sense how the airflow moved around his body—when it came into contact with his shoulders and arms, it made a slight turn and flowed forward along the surface of his body, like laminar water flowing around a rock. He adjusted his breathing rhythm, making the volume of each inhale closer to the natural breath he had taken upon entering. The airflow accelerated as it neared his chest—like a tide, it appeared at the same point every time, as though a fixed passage had formed between his body and the environment. As he stood there, he felt the swirling airflow gradually narrowing, as if it were adapting to his presence.

``` [Ding! Kami's Lookout Environment